. . . [a] treasure-trove of Pierre Boulez's "¿UVRES COMPLÈTES", an enticing 13-CD project supervised by the composer and superbly presented by Deutsche Grammophon . . . [the twelve miniatures for piano]: The concentrated pungency of the sequence embraces whimsical to aggressive, here brought off with total commitment by Pierre-Laurent Aimard, who reveals that each is a gem . . . ["La visage nuptial"]: the score is luminous, voluptuous and thrilling, rather Bergian, and it's a colossal achievement . . . [Piano Sonata No.2]: From the arresting gesture that opens the explosive opening movement through to the work's vaporous conclusion, Pollini is the total master of the Sonata's many fluctuations of tempo and its volatile contrasts of mood. Pollini's classic recording sounds quiet superb in the current re-mastering . . . [Livre pour quatuor]: tantalising music in its unpredictability and contrasts, cultivated and perfectly judged as performed by Quatuor Parisii . . . ["Le Soleil des eaux"]: glowing with expression . . . ["Le Marteau sans maître"]: the linear and crystalline . . . Christine Schäfer is vocally fearless, every intimacy and exclamation perfectly judged . . . [Piano Sonata No.3]: an incisive and dramatic reading . . . ["Livre pour cordes"]: an ecstatic and ravishing piece, the strings of the Vienna Philharmonic attending to every detail for the composer (in 1992). This is followed by "Rituel in memoriam Bruno Maderna", a time-obsessed, spatial masterpiece of increasing complexity . . . "Messagesquisse" for solo cello and a group of six cellos is tantalising. Then comes the extravagant large orchestra of five of the "Notations", the first four and VII, beautiful, thrilling and wonderful music . . . ["Répons"]: pulsating, colourful and totally engaging . . . ["Dialogue de l¿ombre double"]: a fascinating dialogue between a solo clarinettist (Damiens) and his recorded double . . . ["Dérive 2"]: The music's sheer energy and incident is exhilarating in itself . . . The French/English booklet is exemplary . . . It¿s been compelling, illuminating and a privilege to work through the contents of this set, issued not for any anniversary but for reasons of sheer quality.

Record Review /
Colin Anderson,
Classicalsource.com / 09. June 2013

. . . Boulez's music posits a brave new world, purged of history. Like France's TGV railway lines, his pieces are shiny, technically super-sophisticated, and often whirl past in a blur . . . hidden in those decorative skirls is a startling violence, and also a moving awareness of mortality and extinction . . . ["Notations II" for piano]: the pieces are all really striking . . . ["Improvisation 1 sur Mallarmé"]: This is a setting of Mallarmé's famous sonnet about a white swan floating at daybreak over a near-frozen lake. The image is perfectly caught . . . It's all there: the uncanny beauty of the morning, the whiteness of the swan, the ice which is pure and also white, but holds everything in its sterile grip. Boulez's later version for big orchestra is fascinating . . .

. . . there is enough new/rare material here to tempt you in . . . an excellent live "Livre pour cordes" cut with the Vienna Philharmonic in 1992 is rescued from the historical graveyard of VHS video, and a 2007 recording of the orchestral "Notations" with Ensemble Modern is heard for the first time on disc . . . Book 1 of "Structures" [is] performed here with drill-bit might by the Kontarsky brothers . . . I'd claim "Rituel: in memoriam Bruno Maderna" as his standout moment, especially in the cool ritual of this 1982 BBC SO performance; the emotional engagement with a fallen hero crashing into the objectifying power of Boulez's music. Result: complete satisfaction.

Record Review /
Philip Clark,
Gramophone (London) / 01. October 2013

If one composer can be said to have upheld the concept of serialism in the context of soundscapes and structures that appeared to grow naturally out of its organizational principles, it is surely Pierre Boulez. Listening again through Boulez's blazingly inventive music . . . one experiences a bracing shock to the nervous system, a sense of exciting new possibilities opening up . . . period-defining works . . . they have lost none of their ability to amaze and inspire during the inventive years . . . [a] fast-reflexed account of the "12 Notations" [by Pierre-Laurent Aimard] . . . authoritative accounts of the flute Sonatine (Sophie Cherrier's seductive virtuosity still takes some believing here), Piano Sonata no. 1 (Aimard again on captivating form, throwing off the torrential patternings of the "Assez large" with almost casual ease) and "Le Visage Nuptial", featuring BBC forces under Boulez's direction, with soloists Phyllis Bryn-Julson and Elizabeth Laurence on electrifying form) . . . Maurizio Pollini's all-embracing, pyrotechnically astonishing, sonically multi-layered account of the Second Sonata remains a defining classic of modern pianism . . . an astonishing performance of the "Livre pour quatuor" from the Quatuor Parisii, that encompasses the work's electrifying, high-tensile textural changeability with unfailing aplomb. Alfons and Aloys Kontarsky's legendary account of "Structures I" sounds amazingly vivid in this skilful transfer . . . "Pli selon Pli", whose intoxicating theatricality -- embraced with nerve shredding intensity by Christine Schäfer -- has rarely felt so pungent and disturbing . . . [The Third Piano Sonata is] performed here with hypnotic tonal allure by Paavali Jumppanen . . . ["Rituel in memoriam Bruno Maderna" is] nothing short of spectacular . . . ["Répons"] is performed here with the mesmerizing precision and sensitivity to sonic impulse, captured in alluringly sophisticated sound by the DG engineers . . . An unforgettable set, capturing some of the most compelling music of the last half-century in exemplary performances, it is difficult to imagine it ever being surpassed.

Record Review /
Julian Haylock,
International Record Review (London) / 01. November 2013

. . . what is here, in consistently outstanding performances, is an overview of the great French composer . . . known not only for the formidable complexity of his music but its ear-popping color and fanciful dramatic gestures that stimulate the ear with startling immediacy.